PHOTODISSOCIATION OF SF6 NEAR THE F 1S ABSORPTION-EDGE

Core-excited fragmentation of SF6 is analyzed by using monochromatic s ynchrotron radiation and time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. Excitation of fluorine K and sulfur L levels yields highly dissociated and multip ly charged ions such as SF2+, S2+ and S3+ that are not seen with valen ce level excitation. Excitation of sulfur L levels is found to be more dissociative than that of fluorine K levels in the sense that more at omic ions and more multiply charged sulfur ions are produced. In addit ion to the above results, the generation mechanism for these ions is d iscussed by considering the multistep Auger cascade decay of core hole s.